It Takes Two
by Thats Amore
Summary: Eyes would open slowly to look at the land of destruction that existed around them. No evidence existed of what had happened, but only one person was left from it all, this lone girl knew the truth of the destruction that had taken her homeland...R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hello all waves I would first like to say that I am very glad that you have chosen to read this story. I'm hoping that it will live up to your expectations.

Sadly this entire story will not be a complete Zutara fiction, but there will be some of the Zutara-goodness. Mainly this will be a pairing between Zuko and my OC…so I'm sorry. Another story is in the making and it _will_ be a Zutara, but there are no promises to when it will come out, gomen.

I plan for this story to have: mild-language, violence, sexual themes, lemons, and maybe even some major scenes of complete and total cute Zuko moments. IF any of this will make you feel sick or upset, please read no further. But, if this does 'blow your skirt up' feel free to R&R…flames are always welcome…considering I'm a pyro.

FINALLY…. insert drum roll here ….I don't own Avatar: The Last Air Bender, all of that credit stuff goes to the creators. I do, however, own my OC. WUAHAHAHA!!!

Prologue

_Eyes would open slowly to look at the land of destruction that existed around them. No evidence existed of what had happened, but only one person was left from it all, this lone girl knew the truth of the destruction that had taken her homeland._

_A small group of warriors had come and gone, taking the lives of everyone in the village with him, and the girl silently prayed that it wo9uld have been her body lying on the ground instead of her beloved sisters. Those men, mere fire benders, had taken everything that she knew and loved. Simple hate and greed had led them to do this. They had come only to destroy and take what they wanted for the 'glory' of their nation._

_Charred remains of her people laid scattered around her and her older sister…her sister laid in her lap, slain, and the ones that had gone in the most valiant of ways. Her sister had fought for the sake of her home and to protect the ones she loved but in the end nothing mattered, everyone was gone; the men had killed the innocent without a single regard._

_The young girl didn't know exactly why the men had begun their attack on the world, the lands had lived in peace, but they just attacked out of nowhere. The people of the village had cried out for the help of the Avatar, but no one came, then they turned to her in seek of help. She was able to guide both fire and water, but she hadn't been chosen as the Avatar, she was just a simple bender. It wasn't until she looked down at her sister's body and realized that she was now truly alone._

"_Sister…sister, please wake up…don't leave me. Please…" Her voice came out in choked sobs as tears began to roll down her cheeks and her body trembled from both shock and fear. "Just like mother…don't go like mother did…"_

_She sat there and cried, cradling her sister's body to her chest until she fell asleep, only to awake later when she heard the sounds of beasts stopping and a man's gasp of shock. "Spirits, what happened…"_

_She was too weak to move as she listened to the man move around her. Travelers frequently visited her home, but she didn't want anyone to see it now. She didn't know what the man was looking for but she'd release a cry of fear and pain when he placed a hand on her shoulder to move her. "Go away!"_

"_You're alive?! Young one, you're hurt." The man was startled by her scream but didn't back away; instead he gently turned her to face him. "Aki, bring some water and a fresh cloth from your bag."_

"_Of course." A woman's voice broke out from behind her, the sound of her steps and rustling of a bag reaching the girl's ears. Once the woman approached them she'd hand the items requested to the man and kneel in front of the girl, obviously with child. "How long have you been here, dear?"_

_Had it really been that long since the attack? The girl then looked around at the area, the air now barely smelt of charred flesh…instead the smell of rotting corpses filled the air. With the way that the area seemed the girl could only guess that it had already been days since everyone was killed, but it only felt like she had been sleeping for a few hours. Once her eyes landed back on the man she'd speak up softly, "who are you?"_

"_Ah, yes, my name is Dante of the Earth Kingdom…" he then motioned to the woman and gave a wider smile. "This is my wife Aki. Now…I must ask young one, who did this to you?"_

"_Fire benders…"_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **I know that my last chapter was short, but I promise that this one will be longer. Whee!!!!!

I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender…. cries

My eyes snapped open when I heard someone walking around inside my home. Well, it wasn't really a home, more like a very large cave that had rooms built inside of it…but it was the place that I came back to every night. _That dream…_I stood slowly and walked around to the mouth of the cave. There were two people; one held a severe scar over his left eye and the other was an older man. Before I could say anything flames were thrown in my direction, burning the skin on my arms just as the older man yelled.

Once the flames were gone, the scarred boy was in my face, his voice harsh and cold. This startled me so badly; I took a few steps back. "Who are you?"

"I don't believe that I am required to tell you anything, seeing as how you don't own this cave." I didn't know if that was the right thing to say, but it did make him angry, smoke emerged from his nostrils as he exhaled. "Although I can ask you what you're doing in this cave, it is after all, my home. You're not even from the Earth Kingdom, are you?"

"We're just a couple of travelers in need of shelter from the storm, we mean no harm. I'm sorry if my nephew's bad temper has startled you in any way." The older man now spoke up as he placed a hand on the younger one's shoulder.

These two were a very strange pair, to say the least. After all…I had never really seen anyone from the Fire Nation without their armor on. I couldn't help but stare slightly at the scarred one. Was he the banished prince that everyone had heard about? He was the second most talked about person in the Earth Kingdom besides the newly found Avatar. I don't believe that he noticed my stares, or he didn't care, seeing as how all he did was walk back to the edge of the cave and watch the lightning in the distance. _Please don't let me hear the thunder…_For a small moment I was tempted to approach and try to talk to him, but his uncle's voice broke into my thoughts.

"I'm sorry to ask…but since this is your home, would you mind if we stayed for the night?" At least the man was polite…

"Oh, yes, of course!" My voice suddenly went shaky when the scarred one turned to look at me; they must have been a while without a decent meal also. "I can fix up some dinner too, that is, if you're hungry."

"I don't want to be a nuisance to you…" the older man tried to speak in but he stopped speaking when the sound of a stomach growling began. 

"Its no nuisance at all, its been a while since I've actually sat down and had a meal with someone other than my shadow." If only for a moment, the younger one's face seemed to brighten up a bit.

After leading them further back into the cave I'd show them through a door that led into my real home. Their faces were evidence enough that they had never been into an underground home before. Once we entered the living area, I left them to make the meal while the older man began making tea. The older man's voice was easily heard through the echoes of the cave. "Go and help her Zuko, maybe while we're waiting for the storm to pass outside you can help the storm in yourself subside by talking to her." Obviously something was wrong with him, but if he was the banished prince that I was thinking of, I wouldn't blame him for having an inner-turmoil.

Soon after the older man's comment, the scarred one entered the room and stood in the corner in front of me. He seemed very uncomfortable standing there, but it wasn't like I didn't already know that he was from the Fire Kingdom. There I stood, chopping up various vegetables and meat, my eyes focused on the fiery-eyed boy. Just as I was trying to speak, I sliced my finger with the knife. "Ah, ouch!"

"You should be more careful with that knife…" he spoke as he approached me and took my hand into his, eying the cut. "Are those vegetables that hard to cut, or did you have more fun sinking that down into your skin?"

"It…I…I wasn't paying attention." I blushed slightly and shrugged before grabbing a bandage out of a cabinet and wrapping it around my finger. "Tie it for me please?"

"Sure…" he nodded before tying it almost too tight. He then grabbed the knife from me and began cutting up what was left.

"So…you're a refugee from the Fire Kingdom I take it."

"If that's what you want to believe, then go ahead." His voice held many different emotions, too many for someone that seemed to be the same age as my sixteen.

"Can I ask for your name, or should I avoid the topic so I know you're going to lie to me no matter what?" I knew his name…but that didn't mean that I couldn't check to see if he would lie.

"I…my name is Zuko." He gave a crooked grin before looking at me. "So that that I've told you mine, you'll tell me yours?"

"I'm Aeris." I could barely breathe because of the way that he was looking at me; first it had been out of amusement, now it had changed to something else. Just when I thought that I was going to jump out of my skin, his eyes went to my arms and a concerned look crossed his face. "What's wrong?"

"You're burned..." He almost sounded regretful about it.

"Well that's what happens when you play with fire, I guess." I shrugged off his comment and he turned to continue cutting until he was done, then he simply placed them in a bowl and handed it to me. When he handed it to me I walked over to a small stove and poured them onto the skillet. I flashed my eyes back at him just as he smiled and lit the coals under the stove, the vegetables and meat automatically beginning to sizzle from the new heat. "Thanks. So are you still hunting the avatar or do you have other ambitions now?"

"I…right now I'm just trying to live in peace, without the Fire Nation or the Avatar being involved." His attitude didn't seem to fit what I had heard about him, so many people hated him and at this moment I couldn't see why.

"Well then…first off…maybe you should avoid fire bending in public, after all, that seems that it could get you into some trouble."

"You have no idea…" there was a small hint of a laugh in his voice before he cleared his throat and looked to the ground. "So you're from the Earth Kingdom, right?"

"Nope…my family came here as refugees from the Fire Nation." Maybe that wasn't the right thing to say, but better to be honest, right? "My home was attacked and so what was left of my family came here."

"So where are you really from?" He seemed truly interested in what I was talking about, so I didn't really think that it would matter if I told him anything about my past, seeing as how it was only the past.

"I don't remember where I'm from…" I shrugged silently and tried to ignore the look on his face. "I guess that's kind of odd, not knowing where you're from…"

"It's not odd…but…it's not odd." He seemed flustered with himself, probably since he didn't have anything comforting to say.

With that said I finished cooking the food and placed it back into the bowl, grabbing three plates as well. Just before I left the room, Zuko grabbed the bowl from me and gave me a small smile. It seemed that so much was said just in that one action, almost like he was saying _'I'll take care of you'. _I had to speak up before he went back to his silent self that he seemed to be while he was around his uncle. "Thank you…for not burning me to a crisp when I walked up on you and your uncle."

"Y-your welcome…I guess…" he didn't seem to know what to say to that, but then again I didn't expect a comment at all. Somehow I liked the way that he sounded when he was confused, it was kind of…cute.

**A/N: **So how did you like this one??? The next chapter should be pretty amusing to everyone, I hope. Please R&R.


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